Ammonia-saturator



A. ROBERTS.

AMMONIA SAIURATOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. I915- RENEWED MM 9. I919- 4 duction of his kind are ordinarily termed saturators. l5

, size or capacity which ma justed of proper size cents UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR ROBERTS, 0F EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO AMERICAN COKE & CHEMICAL COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION Q1. MAINE.

AMMONIA-SATURATOR.

1,331, 784. Specification of Application filed April 17, 1915, Serial No. 22,144

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Au'rnnn Honours, a citizen of the United States, residing at Evanston, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have iiiv'entcd certain new and useful 'Im movements in AllllIlOlilil-Slltllltltors, of which the following is a specification. y

This invention has reference to certain improvements in saturators or mechanisms for absorbing ammonia from a stream of gas into sulfuric acid or the like for the proammonium sulfate. Devices of one of the objects of the invention is to devise a saturator of such construction that it can be built up from standard parts to any be desired accord to the conditions 0 the plant where it is installed. One of the benefits tobc derived from this feature, for example, is the ability to adjust the size of the saturator for the removal of ammonia from gases carrying different quantities of 26 t eir body. For example, if the as carries or percentage 0 ammonia be constructed or iidso as to insure a complete removal of the ammonia, whereas if the gas only carries a small amount or perof the ammonia then the saturator mu 1 made of smaller size as needed.

other object of the invention is to so construct the saturator that the gas will be brought repeated! and violently into contact with the acit so as to very perfectly and completely remove the ammonia, and in this connection also to so construct the satu rator that the gas will be repeated] y forced, to break through the body of the acid itself.

Another feature of the invention has reference to certain constructions whereby the sulfate salts are removed from the hopper without interference with the flow of acid and without interfering with the continuous operation of the saturator.

Other objects and uses will appear from a detailed description of the invention which consists in the features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a complete saturating plant embodying the features of the present invention, the saturata large amount the satureior may ammonia in Letters P tentlatented Feb. 24, 1920.

Renewed may 1919. 51211211110. 295,926.

lug column and hopper being shown in l 4. It IS illustrated as comprising a series:

of units 5, the construction of which will'be presently described in detail. y

The gas'containing the ammonia is delivered into the lower portion of-the saturator by means of an incoming pipe-6, and after the gas has been dlschar eipe 7.

" As will the sulfuric a I used for t 1e removal of the saturatingcolumn on a particularly a treated in thesatul'ator ity s discharged therefrom through the F y y 76 presently ex ilained in detail, (5"

, 'annnoma and its conversioninto ammonium 1 sulfate, is flowed into the the saturator through the pipe 24, the acid being forced through said pipe by the pump 23 which draws the acid from the tank or vat 17. This acid travels'downiwardl' over the faces of the baflle plates 25, hue and forth from side to side of the saturator, eventually finding its way into the hopper 8. The gas entering the saturator throu h the connection 6 is caused to rflow upwar y be- -upper portion of tween the successive bafliesto the discharge pipe 7, the said 'as breaking through the stream of acid or lquor adjacent'tothe Consequently, the gas is of each bafile.

brought repeatedly into intimate contact or association with the liquor or acid, the number of times that such intimate'contact orupon the association is effected delmnding number of haflles 25. The liquor or acid and thecrystals entering the hopper 8 or weir 2?,and the elevatioi'l ofthe 'li uor within the hopper 8 is atall times'suflici'ent to maintain a li uor seal by means of the weir 27. Exben and parallel to its back wall30, is a separator or partition 29. The lower edge 32 of this separator orpaititionisspaced from the front wall 31 of the ho distance to allow thecr'ysta rolling down alon the wall 31 to passbeneath t e edge 32 of the partition 29 and into the upper end pass beneath the liquor seal I ing across the hopper 8,

per a "sulficient of the pipe .L \'al\'o ll in the pipe ll serves to regulate the delivery of crystals down through said pipe, aml also serves to limil the delivery of liquor along with the crystals through the pipe l),

The crystals collecting 'l] the upper por tion of the pipe U serve. to some extent, to limit the How of liquor thcrctln'ough. Most ol' the liquor will lind ils way out from the hopper H by wav ol' the spout 1'3 whence the said liquor will be delivered into a supple mcnlary hopper 1 May crystals passing by way of the spout 12 will collect in the snpplcnu-ntnry hopper i l. whence they will be delivered through the pipe l-l into the chute 10 under control of the valve 13. The liquor and crystals pas ing down throu h the pipe 9 under control of the valve 11 a so liud their way onto the chute ll Most of the liquor from lllt"Hllllllltllltllllll'y hopper will pass off through the spout 1" into the receiving tank 17.

The rc-aclion of the sulfuric acid on the anunonia present in the gas will be as follows:

The chute l0 delivers the crystals ultimately to the. drain table 1H wherein the bulk of the liquor passin; over through the chute it) is separated from the. crystals, the crystals going by way of a spout 19 into the centrifugal 1:! and the liquor collected in the lower-portion ot' the drain table to be thence returned intothe tank 17 by means of the pump 2!. The dried crystals from the centrifugal arc roller-ted in the receiver 22.

From the foregoing it appears that all of the liquor is delivered cventual lylo flit! receiving tank 17. From .this l anl\'-i,t s circulated back by means of a pump' '23, through the pipe 24 into the top portion of the sat-orator.

(onsideringz Fig. 2 1 will now describe in dctail the construct ion of the satnrator itself. Each of the units 5 is preferably of rectangular cross section, having a pair of ballles 25 slanting down from one side and a ballle 26 slanting down from the other side. By setting these units on top of each other in alternate relationship as shown in Fig. 1 the combined ballle arrangement, shown in Fig. l is produced. In the said figure the lowormostiuuit has its dou-ble halllc side at the right, hand. the next unit has its double ballle side at the left hand. and the next unit has its double. lmllle side at the right hand. etc. Thus there isproduced a resulting eonstruetion in which the number of ballles on the one side equals the mun-her on the other side. the batlles alternating with respect to each other on the two sides.

The base unit of the saturator has the hop )0l 8 and the incoming pipe connection 6. his base unit is provided with the weir 27 which extends down a sullicient. distance below the upper edge 28 of the hopper to provide a constant liquor seal, the liquor always standing at a suflicient elevation to submerge the lower edge of the weir. The elevation of the liquor within the hopper is determined, among other things, by the spout 12, which is located at the top of the hopper.

lhe valve 11 is for the purpose of controlling the delivery of crystals from the hopper. Upon the opening of this valve a stream of liquor carrying with it the cryslnls will pass down through the pipe 9, and

the volume of this stream can be adjusted by the valve so as to insure a delivery of the crystals at substantially the same rate as that at which they are formed. Ordinarilv the volume of this stream of liquor will 0 small as compared to the total volume circulated through the saturator, the balance of the liquor overflowing by way of the spout 12. In order to effect a more perfect separation of the crystals in the hopper 8 I have provided the. lmflie 29 lying substantially parallel to the back wall 30 of the hopper. The crystals will be delivered primarily on the front wall 31 of the hop er,

and being of greater specific gravity tian the liquor. will roll down along the face 31 and directly to the pipe 9. The clearance 32 between 'the lower edge of the ballle 29 and the front wall 31 of the hopper is lar e enough to easily pass the crystals, but he great bullr of the liquor stream is deflected by the ballle 29 directly toward the spout 12.

As a convenient form for each of the valves 1] and 15 I have shown the same as heme in the form of a gate valve.

justed according to the capacity of the unit that they will be practically filled or ,e

tirely filled, by the down flowin stma'nrot liquor. By reason of this fact, 'ie at-5mg. ing gas stream will be forced to through the body of the liquor each timjlfif passes the lower edge of one of the bullies,

thus malqifg it necessary for thegas to break through tie liquor at the passage ofa'rh ballle. In the arrangementilhlstrated each unit. has three bullies and willthereforemih ject the liquor and gas to this mixing action three times. If the gas l e-very rich in nimmonia the number of baflles mayjbe increased correspondingly so as to insure a complete removal of ammonia.

Each of the saturate! sections is preforlab ably made from cast iron or the like suitably lined on its interior surface with lead sheeting. The adjoining edges of the sections are provided with the flanges 34 which may be bolted orotherwisc clamped together, and in order to insure a perfectly tight lead lining l have illustrated the. lead sheeting as being flanged or turned over and clamped hctwecn the flanges. In addition to this the abutting lead surfaces may be burned to gcthcr.

At the opening into the discharge pipe 7 there is provided a series of ballies 35. 'lhcse are for the purpose of protecting the discharge gas pipe as much as possible from the entrance of liquor or acid thereinto. These bafiles may be pivotally mounted, so that their angle of deflection may he changed or adjusted according to require mcnts.

\Vhile I have hcrcin shown and described only a single form of construction embodying the features of my invention, still it will be understood that I do not limit myself to the same except as i may do so in the claims.

1 claim: p

1. In an ammonia saturator the combination with a vertical tower closed at its upper end and in communication with a hopper at its lower end, of a gas intake connectio communicating with the lower end of sai tower, a gas discharge connection communicating with the upper end of'the tower, a plurality of battles extendingiaeross the width of the tower, said battles being arranged in two sets,ode set commencing at one side of the lower and slanting downward toward the opposite side of the tower, and the other set commencingat the second mentioned side of the tower and slanting downward tor. ard the first mentioned side of the tower intermediate the first mentioned battles. said sets of bafilcs being mounted in staggered relati iisl'iip. and each battle terminating close to the opposite wall of the tower. a weir on the lower edge of the tower depending into the hopper, and a connection for liquor at the upper end of the tower adjacent to the uppermost bafilc, whereby liquor delivered through said connection fl ws back and forth over the surfaccs-of tbr bafilcs from side to side of the tower in a tream of substantially sulllcient body to close the spaces between the edges of the halilcs and the walls of the tower, substantiallv as drscril'led.

L lo an ammonia saturator the combination with a tower closed at its upper end and in communication with a hopper at its lower cud. of a weir on the lower edge of the tower depending into ll'iehopper for the purpose ot creating a liquor seal, a gas intake conauction leading into the lower end of the low r. a gas dc'nvcm conncctum leading From the upper end of the tower. a plurality of bullies extending across the width of the tower and from side to side, said battles extending in opposite directions from opposite sides of the tower in staggered relationship, and all of said battles slanting downwardly, each ballle terminating close to that side of the tower opposite to the side from which it commences, and a liquor connection extending into the upper end of the tower adjacent, to the uppermost battle, whereby liquor delivered through said connection flows back and forth over the faces of the bullies alternately from side to side of the tower from the top thereof down to the liquor seal within the hopper, substantially as described.

3. An ammonia saturator comprising a base portion and a tower base, there being a wcir on the lower edge of the tower base depending into the hopper and there being an inlet gas connection in the tower base, a plurality of tower sections mounted on said base. each tower section being provided with a hatllc extending across the width of said section and from one side to a point close to the other side and slanting downward, said sections being built up with the battles commencing alternately on opposite sides of the tower, and a top section closing over the top of the tower and having a gas delivery connection and a liquor inlet, whereby the central portion of the tower is built up from sections of standard form and size, substantially as described.

4. in an ammonia saturator the combination with a base section having a hopper and a tower base. and having a weir downwardly depending into the hopper and an inlet gas connection in the tower base, of. a plurality of tower sections built up from the base to a desired height. each section having two battles cxtcnding across the width of the section from one side to a point close to the other sidc. said battles being parallel, and an intcrmcdiatc balllc. extending across the width of the section from the other side to a point closeto the first mentioned side, the tower sections being set together alternately in reversed position with respect to each other. and a top section closing over the upper end of the tower, said top section being provided with a gas delivery connection and with a liquor inlet connection substantially as described.

5. In an ammonia satu 'ator the combination with a saturating tower, of a hopper in commuuiration with thr lower end of said tower, there being a weir depending from the tower into said hopper, and there being an opening in the lower side of the hopper for the delivery of crystals therefrom, and a ballle within the hopper extending across the width thereof above said opening and lying parallel to one of the faces of the hoppcr. substantially as described.

(3 In an ammonia saturutor the combination with a saturating tower of a, hopper in connuunication with the lower end of said tower, there being a weir depending from the tower into the hopper, the bottom of the hopper harin r its front and back faces sloping downward toward each other and there a discharge opening in the bottom, across the width of said faces, subbeing and a haille extending the hop )er parallel to one of stantiaily as described.

7. In an ammonia saturator the combination with a saturating tower, of a triangular shaped hopper having its apex facing downwardly, there being a. delivery opening at said apex the lower end of the tower being in communication with the hopper under liqnorseal, there being a batlle within the hopper extending across the width thereof and lying parallel to that face of the hop- 1 per opposite to the lower end of the tower, substantially as described.

8. In an ammonia saturator the combination with a saturating tower, of a hop er in communication with the lower end 0 said tower, said hopper bein of triangular shape and with the apex of t e triangular facing downward, and there being a delivery opening in the hopper at that side thereof opposite to the tower, and a baille within the hopper extending across the width thereof and parallel to that side in which the discharge opening is located, substantially as dedescribed.

ARTHUR ROBERTS. Witnesses:

THOMAS A. BANNING, J12, W M. P. Bonn. 

